Goaltending is a touchy issue for many head coaches to discuss.<\/p>\n
They defer their netminding decisions, often, to their goaltending coaches.<\/p>\n
Which is why, in most cases, San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky gives non-answers about his goaltending, unless he\u2019s speaking positively about it.<\/p>\n
Sharks tools<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he made some saves,\u201d Warsofsky said, carefully, about Yaroslav Askarov<\/a>\u2019s performance in a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. \u201cThere\u2019s not much that he can do on some of those.\u201d<\/p>\n Warsofsky\u2019s expertise is forwards and defensemen and special teams and systems. What happens after all that, when the puck gets to his goalie? That\u2019s on Askarov or Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a>, or above them, director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov<\/a> or goaltending coach Thomas Speer<\/a>.<\/p>\n The media, however, rarely receives access to Nabokov or Speer. We\u2019ve asked.<\/p>\n Typically, organizations want the GM or head coach or scouting directors to be the public voices of their specific aspects of organizations. But, you rarely see a goaltending coach speaking on behalf of the organization. Maybe we should see that more, because of how siloed the goaltending position is.<\/p>\n I\u2019d love to chat with Speer at mid-season, to get what would be highly-educated if understandably filtered thoughts on his goalies and the environment around them.<\/p>\n Of course, organizations should also pay their goalie coaches more, if they\u2019ve got to be media trained, too. But that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n In the end though, it would help demystify the sport\u2019s most mysterious and siloed position.<\/p>\n That leaves, for this story, analytics to judge Askarov\u2019s performance against the Boston Bruins.<\/p>\n The raw numbers don\u2019t favor the young keeper: He stopped 20-of-25 shots, and for the season, has a 2-3-0 record and .848 Save %. That Save % is among the NHL\u2019s worst. As of Oct. 13, league-average Save % is .885.<\/p>\n Personally, I don\u2019t think the raw numbers this season, which puts lot of weight on Askarov, are necessarily fair.<\/p>\n Stathletes\u2019 micro-stats give a little more nuance. I don\u2019t think these stats are be-all, end-all, but they\u2019re better than just plain Save %.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go backwards, through each of Askarov\u2019s starts this season.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Askarov was expected to give up 4.14 Goals. He gave up five, for a -0.86 Goals Saved Above Expected. On the other side, Jeremy Swayman was expected to give up 4.09 Goals, he gave up three, for a +1.09 Goals Saved Above Expected.<\/p>\n That feels right: The San Jose Sharks did not do Askarov any favors, but Swayman outdueled him. The Sharks probably should\u2019ve got at least a point in a wide-open game.<\/p>\n